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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27075862">bloom</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealanything/pseuds/etherealanything'>etherealanything</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Drabble, Extended Metaphors, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 01:20:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27075862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealanything/pseuds/etherealanything</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She had never loved flowers, but he didn’t know a better way to say “I love you.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Penelope Garcia/Aaron Hotchner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>bloom</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>just a short piece i published on tumblr about a month ago and forgot to upload here until today</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Penelope had never loved flowers. He understands that now. He hadn’t for years, assumed she’d love the rainbow of bright hues and the happiness they brought. That was all she was to him: the multi-colored woman who was damn good at her job.</p><p>It was when Gideon sent the MP3 player that Hotch began to reconsider. What did he really know about her, despite the fact that they had worked together for years? He started making a point to come to her office after cases, checking in on her. He noticed quickly that every corner of her room was filled with objects to ward against the evils they asked her to pursue, but there wasn’t a single flower in sight.</p><p>Despite her hate for them, he still thinks of her when he passes the flower store, can’t help it. Pansies, peonies, sunflowers standing proud; all of them remind him of her smile. The day he had asked her out, blushing and tripping over his words as if he were suddenly a high schooler again, she had beamed, finishing his sentence when he couldn’t.</p><p>Perhaps it’s wrong to say that Penelope hated flowers. In nature, she treasured them, stopping at every bush to inhale deeply. But she knew then what he knows now: flowers were never meant to be cut. Their beauty becomes fleeting, just because someone wanted to gather them. One day, he asked her to become someone she wasn’t and she refused. The next, she told him that he didn’t know how to love and he turned away, unwilling and unsure of how to argue.</p><p>The End. Except sometimes, rarely, a flower can be replanted. It took time, and great care, but they learned how to trust again. While apart, Hotch watched her shine and knew asking her to change would dim her irrevocably. Penelope saw the ways he loved, as deeply as any of them, just without the words to say it.</p><p>Even nature needs a miracle sometimes. She showed up on his doorstep just as he had made up his mind to visit hers. They begged each other’s forgiveness and tumbled laughing, crying, into outstretched arms when it was given. Once more they began, but this time it was with roots already grown.</p><p>And, like any flower that is fed and nurtured, they bloomed. In summer, Aaron cared for the garden he had planted in their front yard. Penelope, who claimed she wasn’t built for the sun, sat on their front steps and drank lemonade, making him laugh with every word she uttered. </p><p>But the cruel truth about nature is that nothing blooms the whole year round. Even an uncut flower fades eventually. When it happened, Aaron found comfort in traditions, even as he knew that Penelope would have hated their antiquity. With her gone, he found that he was less bold, the Aaron he once was but no longer recognized.</p><p>She would have never wanted flowers, but he lays them at her grave all the same.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>find me on tumblr @ellegreenawy!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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